Colonial Players closes its 2009-10 season with Tom Strelich's 1992 play "Dog Logic," about the caretaker of a seedy pet cemetery being pushed into selling the land by greedy developers.
Hertel (played by Ben Carr) took over the cemetery when his father died. Now real estate developers envision a shopping mall in place of Pet Heaven — an attractive idea to Hertel's long-lost mother and his ex-wife, who want their share of the inherited property.
Carr instantly connects with the audience as he delivers a series of monologues that reveal his quirky former hippie self, a man who respects and empathizes more with dogs than with people. Hertel defines success as obstinately retaining his cherished 40-acre pet cemetery, where no funeral has been held in 10 years, rather than allowing developers to pave it over for profit.
Hertel is intelligent, honest, likable and often exasperating. He protects and cherishes his space with a profound loyalty and spouts theories about cavemen and contemporary culture to illustrate his reasoning.
He is soon joined by Jim Reiter as Dale, a janitor and budding real estate agent hoping to make a fortune on the sale of the cemetery. Reiter's Dale is equally adept at creating unique characters, his timing and delivery attuned to Carr, who has the more demanding, dialogue-heavy role.
Shirley Panek plays Kaye, Hertel's former wife. She displays conflicting emotions, from protective concern to confusion and frustration at Hertel's offbeat decision-making processes.
Kathryn Huston plays Hertel's mother, Anita, who deserted him when he was a child to pursue a career in evangelism before turning to real estate. Huston is convincingly cool and shrewd at making deals to her benefit.
In about two hours, all is resolved into a happy ending for almost everyone on stage.
Carol Youmans completed her term as CP president in time to turn her directing skills to this dark comedy. She also gets credit for set design and decoration, along with Dick Whaley and Laurie Nolan, who together created a perfect setting filled with old television sets, angel statues, antique lawn mowers and discarded tires bordered by a garage where more TV sets sputter signs of life.
One-act play festival
Colonial Players will present 11 plays in July as part of its one-act play festival, "Singular Sensations." Playwrights represented will include Eugene O'Neill, Terrence McNally and several local playwrights.
'Singular Sensations: One-of-a-Kinds'
Performances are at 8 p.m. July 15, 17 and 23, and at 2 p.m. July 25. Scheduled plays:
•"Are You Jewish?" by Bruce J. Bloom (comedy): Features a mother who shows up at a live news broadcast to convince the weather woman to come to dinner and meet her son.
•"Botticelli," by Terrence McNally (drama): A study of the experience of war and its impact.
•"Clean," by Audrey Cefaly ( romantic comedy): Winner of the 2010 Maryland State One-Act Festival, a romantic comedy about discovering that what we've been looking for has always been with us. Cefaly also wrote the award-winning "Fin and Euba" produced at CP's 2006 One-Act festival.
•"Scene Change," by Joe Thompson (comedy): The real drama is behind the scenes. This premiered at CP's 2008 One-Act festival and went on to win runner-up in the 2010 Maryland One Act Festival.
•"Sonata," by Jozef Anton (drama): A poignant look at the life-long friendship of two women.
•"Stolen Beer and a Bake Sale," by Dylan Roche (comedy): "A family that puts the fun in dysfunctional."
"Singular Sensations — Thrilling Combinations"
Performances are at 8 p.m. July 16, 22 and 24, and at 2 p.m. July 18. Scheduled plays:
•"The American Century," by Murphy Guyer (comedy): Margaret and Tom, while in the midst of planning their future, encounter a man who claims to be their yet-to-be born son.
•"The Battle of Bull Run Always Makes Me Cry," by Carole Real (comedy): Thirtysomething singles on the dating scene.
•"Shell Shock," by Eugene O'Neill (drama): A character study on the aftereffects of military service in World War I.
•"The Wrong Package," by Thurston Cobb (comedy): A young man, a hired maid and mistaken ideas about service provided.
General admission tickets for each slate are $10. Information: thecolonialplayers.org.